dear you,

I am popping my head up from the mostly analogue world I am living in at the moment to say hello and share a few things from life these days. As I love writing to you and I love hearing back from you. This will be a shorter one than usual though, but still a bit of whats alive and present, where to meet in the near future and some news from plant world and the library. For you who is new in this exchange space, you are welcome to look at my last letters to you (in deep time its possible to write to you in the past) here, if curious.

what's alive and present

Lately, i have been trying to become the soft body of a plant. To vegetalize my sensorium, to become slower. The success level of this has been varied. Some days I still very much feel like a human doing, others have really been about flow and being and melting my humanness with the surroundind world.

I spent June and July being very much in the doing mode still - exploring weaving and braiding as a method of connecting with the land, playing a DJ set in beloved Riga, holding a wedding ceremony for two amazing people celebrating their love, working on an art project for Festuge. And harvesting, harvesting, harvesting - the shelves are filling up with boxes upon boxes of wonderful plant allies to be worked with in teas, rituals and workshops over the winter.

This week I am more in the being mode. Together with six others artists from near and far, we have dived into plant whispering and become a Yarrow Choir - essentially, we spend hours in meadows, forests and the beach, melting our bodies with the earth and each othr, cultivating our inner plants and singing the melodies of Yarrow plants gifted to us. Sharing our voices for so many hours a day and being in the shared energy of a plant creates a level of softness, vulnerability and trust with people (most of whom I have met just a few days ago for the first time) that I dont remember experiencing before. It feel so tender and so beautiful and transformative. Yarrow teaches us about constriction and release, protection, boundaries, softness and depth and flow. It is also beautiful to be in an artistic practice that does not have the frame of productivity attached to it. We dont need make anything. We are simply exploring and seeing where it takes us. It feels like such a gift.

How are you spending your summer? What is alive and present for you?

where we can meet

I am not doing much outward work over the summer, but if you want to go for a walk together or lie in the mosses or grasses here or there, do reach out.

And then there is one little collaboration though that I am super excited to share for those in Aarhus…

WHITE VOICE singing workshop

August 6, 17.30 - 19.30, Institut for (X).

Together with the vocalist and vocal pedagogue from Gdansk, Małgorzata Priebe, we will explore the technique nowadays known as white voice singing - but, more accurately, traditional folk singing - a style of singing once used by women in rural communities while working in the fields, harvesting crops, or doing everyday household tasks. During the workshop, we will explore a healthy and natural way of singing based on deep breathing, body awareness, and resonance. We will learn two or three melodies from the Polish folk tradition. No previous singing experience is needed. The workshop is open to everyone. Participation fee - 190 DKK. We have a few spots left, on a first come first serve basis - if interested, just respond to this email.

plant listenings

library

this is a continuous open invitation to engage with the Willow House library that houses a growing collection of books and publications on land, healing, feminism, spirituality, ecology, social justice, and much more. If you are in Aarhus, you can become a member and borrow books. Reach out for more information and the list of books available